Series: The Faery Rehistory #1
Published by Blackstone Publishing on October 15, 2019
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, General, Historical, Romance
Pages: 288
Format: eBook
Source: ARC
Miss Ada Quicksilver, a student of London’s Lovelace Academy for Promising Young Women, is spending her holiday in Ireland to pursue her anthropological study of fairies. She visits Dublin’s absinthe bars to investigate a supposed association between the bittersweet spirit and fairy sightings.
One night a handsome Irishman approaches her, introducing himself as Edward Donoghue. Edward takes absinthe to relieve his sleepwalking, and she is eager to hear whether he has experience with fairies. Instead, she discovers that he’s the earl of Meath, and that he will soon visit a mysterious ruin at Newgrange on the orders of his cousin, the beautiful, half-mad Queen Isolde. On learning about Ada’s area of study, he invites her to accompany him.
Ada is torn between a sensible fear of becoming entangled with the clearly troubled gentleman and her compelling desire to ease his suffering. Finally she accepts his invitation, and they arrive in time for the winter solstice. That night, the secret of Edward’s affliction is revealed: he is, in fact, a lord in two worlds and can no longer suppress his shadow self.
Little does either of them realize that their blossoming friendship—and slowly kindling passion—will lead to discoveries that wrench open a door sealed for centuries, throwing them into a war that will change Ireland forever.
It has been some time since I’ve read a novel heavily influenced by mythology and with faeries and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read and review this! In any sort of fantasy world I require a lot of world building to feel immersed and Fisher really managed to craft a fascinating setting for Ada and Edward’s story to unfold. Fisher has a talent for gorgeous description, from setting to clothing, I was able to picture everything perfectly.
This is an engaging, fast-paced adventure and romance and yet my interest started to flag around half way through. I think I would have had an easier time hanging with the story if I had a deeper understanding of Celtic Mythology. I felt a bit overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information and it was still being introduced ¾ of the way through the book.
Additionally, I struggled with the overly formal language. While I know it makes sense for historical fiction, I couldn’t help wishing for the language to relax as they got to know each other. As it was, the passionate scenes seemed out of place and I couldn’t accurately gauge Ada and Edwards feelings for each other.
I do recommend this book, particularly for fans of Celtic Mythology and the more formal historical romances. The descriptions alone are gorgeous and the Irish setting was particularly enchanting. I’m looking forward to seeing where Fisher takes the story in the next book!
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
